4 Letter Words

I've had this post bouncing around in my head for a few weeks.  I even had a debate with my wife about it.

Warning: this post may make me seem a bit more liberal than I really am.  The views expressed here may not actually represent the views of the writer.  I'm just throwing thoughts out there.

Why are cuss words bad?  First, let me say that I don't cuss.  We try to shelter our kids from such language.  One time our daughter came to us and told us that she heard the "s" word on TV.  When we asked her what the "s" word was, she responded, "stupid."  We knew that we were doing our job.

Recently our kids were at a Pokemon tournament at the local library.  After the fact, we found out that the event was not chaperoned adequately.  Our kids (ages 13, 11 and 9) told us that they heard the "f" word from a few teenagers at the tournament.  Well this time they really did hear the "f" word.  Thankfully they knew it was bad, even though they didn't know what it was slang for.

Forget that I don't know why kids that age were using that word at a public library.  Why do people need to use that word at all?  I know people who use it every 3rd or 4th word.  Does it really add to the conversation that much?

But here is the question that I'm really wondering... what makes some words worse than others, even though they mean the same thing?  Why is sh-- worse than poop... pi-- worse than pee... da-- worse than darn.  One word in each of these sets is acceptable; one isn't.  Why?

I know parents who would never let their kids use the "f" word.  But these same kids use "fudge" or "freaking" in the same context in a sentence.  What's the difference?  When I hear the word "fudge" or "freaking" used in those contexts, I think of the other word, so why not just use the other word?

I also know a few good kids who post "WTF" on their FaceBook posts.  And some who will even say "what the f" in conversation.  Why is that acceptable?  Why can you allude to the word, so long as you don't actually say it... even though your hearers think and even in one sense "hear" it?

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "[W]e take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  Words are spoken thoughts.  Can you use 4 letter words and take every thought captive?